BREAKTHROUGH/FREEFALL Retreat in Encinitas

I was naked, in the middle of the room, at the FreeFall workshop this weekend, as a strong feeling of enjoying the depths of my being shook my whole body, in a wave of ecstasy.

Yep, my friends… when I say naked it means nude, without clothes.

That’s just one aspect of what this FreeFall class is about.

What do your clothes mean to you? What do they make you feel? What are they hiding or protecting? Who are you without your clothes? How do you feel without them?

As many of you know I am originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, so getting rid of clothes it is not exactly a big deal, at least not for me. Because of the warm weather in Rio we are used to less clothes (than Alaska, for example)… without mentioning the little bikinis (eh, eh)

But I knew that the class was not (only) about taking
your clothes off. It was something deeper than that. And my yogic friends, this is not about naked yoga either.

Let’s retrospect in time and go back to the first two days of the Retreat, the Breakthrough part. Terry Ann started the day 1 by giving us the key points of Breakthrough. Some things I had heard before. Yes, I had heard already that there is a natural healing that arises out of conflict. However, other than my immune system’s activities when I get a cold, I haven’t been really experiencing the healing nature of my conflicts. Of course, I have been noticing conflicts in my life (who doesn’t?) and I try to get rid of them, just like I get rid of a cold.

Yet if we examine things from an Immune System perspective we have 2 mechanisms that are fundamental behaviors required for an organism to survive: growth and protection.

Growth is about expansion, production of energy. Growth is about opening the exchange between organism and environment…

Growth is about communication… but not any kind of communication. Growth is about a healthy, open, expansive communication.

Now let’s take a look at the other aspect of survival of an organism: Protection.

Protection is about fear: fear of being threatened, protection is about armoring a strategic defense. Protection is shutting down communication. It is holding energy within because maybe you will need it for your fight. Protection is about closing.

Therefore, we can quickly conclude that protection inhibits the creation of life.

The longer the organism stays in protection mode, the more it compromises its’ own growth. Growth and protection cannot operate at the same time.

From this perspective, our first Breakthrough session made me think:
“What is the pattern of my life? Oh, I feel very strong. My defenses (and excuses, and explanations) are so well structured. I am Brazilian. I can “explode” easily and feel very good about it. I built up many strategies to protect my body, my feelings, my masks… I built up many walls to protect myself.

Now, if an organism (me) has been in a protective mode it means that it has not been in a growth mode. Correct? Are you still with me?

Then Terry Ann told us: the Breakthrough focus is Self-honesty.

Oh, it is so easy to say: “I am honest” when I deal with everyone else.

But what about when I’m dealing with myself?

Do we really know the true meaning of self-honesty?

Now I can see that this is a magic trip… a trip to look into my own self, honestly.

Terry Ann is very focused and she goes right into the point.

And accepting the invitation to look into all that protection (“crap”) I have built around my self makes me curious, almost happy. Is that possible?

It could be that the innate force within each of us sees an opportunity to breakthrough the walls of self-protection and to show us how amazing life would be if we allow ourselves to grow.

Of course, I found out I have been living in a protective mode. Always seeing a threat everywhere I go. Absolutely. And this is a very sneaky subconscious thing. You really need to take time and you need to practice (maybe for the first time) to be truly honest with yourself. The days progress, the exercises continue and you go deeper and deeper, and you feel lighter and lighter: all your garbage (or some of it) tossed out!

I will not tell you anything more about Breakthrough. You will need to take the class and find out the magic for yourself. What

I can tell you: I am still processing and I cannot wait to take another Breakthrough class. Now I understand why this class is so important for anyone, particularly a practitioner, any practitioner. And paraphrasing another participant: “It is a tragedy that

Body Talkers are still resisting taking those classes”

Now, lets go back to the second part of the Retreat: The Free/Fall class.

Kristy Kenny is our guide. The first evening of class she introduced herself, very gently and graceful. We are all sitting in the room with our clothes – of course. And a breath of relief escapes from us all. Maybe we are not going to be naked at all. She talks about some aspects of the seminar and says that we are going to be naked tomorrow.. ah oh…

The exercises are very intense, freeing and fun at the same time. There is a smooth flow of the Breakthrough process into the FreeFall. Each person’s process becomes everyone’s process. So beautiful!

There is a true and natural expansion of awareness, an incredible opening, the experience of true trust. Do you think it is because we do not have on our clothes? I do not think so, or probably that’s true, but it really THAT does not matter anymore. With clothes, without clothes… there is an open exchange between everything and everyone, the participants, the green room, the warm sun, the refreshing breeze and the trees outside.

Because, in order to thrive in our own being we need to not only to eliminate the stressors, the conflicts, but to actively, honestly, openly seek joyful, harmonious, heart centered loving fulfilling lives. Those are stimulants of the growth process.

Breakthrough and FreeFall stimulate our growth process… as organisms, as living beings, as heart-mind energies, as pure spirit.

Thank you my Retreat buddies. Thank you Terry Ann, Thank you Kristy, Thank you John and Esther..